I have after school study hall with 8th grade students. These are the students that have below a 2.0. Many of them have difficult behavior issues. Moslty they want to talk and do no work. Some of them are very good and jsut dont get the concepts. I have tried to move them if they are bad. And that yesterday did nothing. I want them to do well. Any suggestions?
Could you find what interests the kids and use that to maybe motivate the kids?? I had to do that with my ED class and that seem to cut down on some behavioral problems. Not all but some!!!
How many kids are there? Are you the only adult in the room? I have to agree with jen though about finding some way to relate the concepts to things that interest the kids. My homeroom every morning is filled with discussions that the kids think are fun, but are very academic. They even try to stump me on information. It's become a game to them. What's actually happened is they've started reading and paying attention in class so that they can try to come up with something I can't discourse on for a short period of time (what they don't know is I know enough about enough topics to fake it, then have them go look up more stuff. It's great.)
I am the only adult in the room. There are between 10-15 students in the room. I have started asking them about their lives. What are some fun topics?
What lands them in after school "study hall?" Why are they there? What is the purpose of the "study hall?"
Maybe you can ask them about their favorite sports or teams? Anyone in particular they are interested in? Movie stars, music stars? Make a list titled Favorite sports or teams? Have the kids list them. That might start a spark??? Afterwards you can find information about their favorite teams or sports? Or have them see if that can find stats?? Good luck!
They have less than a 2.0. It is mandatory for them to be there. The purpose of the study hall is for them to raise their grades.
What subjects? Are you an expert in all of the subjects? If the purpose is academic support then these students will need specific remediation in the subjects that they are deficient in. That means it is probably a different story for each kid. I wonder if "study hall" is the correct tool for the job. With 10 - 15 kids, you are never going to be able to assess, then remediate each student. I suggest a staff/administration conversation about the best way to remediate 10-15 students whos GPAs are less than 2.0. It would surprise me if the best way to do this is study hall. Of course, study hall is an easy way to make it look like something is being done, so you may have a difficult time getting past that. The question is, do you (the staff) really want to make a change in student learning or do you just want a place to put these kids.
Have them participate in projects that will help their academic skills while allowing them to have fun with the assignment. For example, making a slideshow presentation on a certain subject (can be of their choice) and you just allow them to have fun with it while correcting grammer, etc. I know thats probably a bad example of a project, but it's the best I could think of at first. Maybe a cultural/hobby research project? I work for an afterschool program and I understand how all the kids want to do is talk constantly.
I had great luck one year with my 9th graders by doing lots of role play. I had some of my students stay after school just to role play so they could act out the units we were studying. At that time is was World History. Costumes were provided...some we made...lots of imagination and the kids loved to make them. It is amazing how much they got involved and got excited to stay after school. I found out where their interest was and ran with it. It boosted their self confidence as well as their grades. Good luck!
